SPC publishes draft judicial interpretation on trade secret protection

The Supreme People's Court (SPC) recently published the draft Judicial Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Civil Litigation on Trade Secret Violation.

This is a positive move after the amendment of the Anti-unfair Competition Law in 2019, which expanded the protective scope of trade secrets, increased statutory damages from Rmb3 million to Rmb5 million, applied punitive damages and allowed the burden of proof to be transferred from plaintiffs to defendants.

The draft judicial interpretation provides further details on several matters, including:

• what can be protected as a trade secret;
• what protective measures a trade secret owner should apply;
• how damages should be calculated;
• under what circumstances the burden of proof can be transferred from plaintiff to defendant; and
• other procedural matters, such as the 48-hour time limit for courts to act on preliminary injunction orders in urgent circumstances.

The public was invited to submit comments and suggestions to the SPC by 27 July 2020.

For further information on this topic please contact Jason Yao at Wanhuida Intellectual Property by telephone (+86 755 8276 2920) or email (jasonyao@wanhuida.com). The Wanhuida website can be accessed at www.wanhuida.com.